


And Easy As A Star

by pressdbtwnpages



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 18:51:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pressdbtwnpages/pseuds/pressdbtwnpages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Joe Jonas offers to be a beard for Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, things don't quite go according to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Easy As A Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pirateygoodness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirateygoodness/gifts).



> Title from "They shut me up in Prose" by Emily Dickinson.
> 
> Thank you to my beta and other friends who looked this over and reassured me.

No one at Disney ever actually says Selena and Demi can't be together. Selena suspects that's only because a world of hurt would rain down on them if that information came out. Instead, the people at Disney just kind of pointedly schedule them to be on opposite sides of the country a lot and introduce them to other people and strongly encourage that they hang out with their new friends.

It's not the easiest thing ever. Demi and Selena have made each other a lot of promises, and it sucks that Demi can't actually be there holding her hand while Selena records her album. And she was really looking forward to hanging out in Canada while Dem filmed Camp Rock 2.

But they're both busy and Disney makes the rules, so Selena lets go and forces herself to have a fun summer without her girlfriend. It's not like they don't talk all the time, even if they're talking less on twitter, because they have personal things to say to each other. Mickey Mouse would keel over if he saw some of their texts. So they keep it private.

Demi talks a lot about how tired she is of having this heat on her all the time - apparently the Disney handlers on set are convinced she wants to sleep with every girl there - and Selena sympathizes. She loves Demi to death, she really, really does, but she wants to talk about her career, her own music, without Demi's name coming up every time anyone asks. So they hatch a plot.

Demi lets it slip a few times that Selena's changed (she has), that they're not as close as they used to be (they're closer).

Selena anonymously tells a gossip blog or two that things between Joe and Demi are heating up on the Camp Rock set.

And then Joe and Demi start dating.

The photos show up about an hour before Demi calls.

"Jesus, they're fast," Demi pants into the phone.

"Um, hi?" Sel replies because she's trying to be rational, but is also kind of pissed.

"Hi, baby," Demi's smiling, Selena can tell. "It wasn't a date. Or it kind of was, but I can explain."

"Dem..." Selena wants to tell Demi that she doesn't have to explain, that it's fine. But. She kind of would like an explanation.

"So I talked to Joe," Demi says. "He knows about us."

Selena's heart starts beating pretty fast. She and Demi aren't exactly a secret; everyone at Wizards knows, and probably most people at Sonny. But. Joe Jonas. That's outside her comfort zone. "Oh."

"Hey, relax," Demi says comfortingly. "He's cool. He's willing, offered, actually, to be our beard."

Selena blinks a few times, because, Joe Jonas. He's her friend's ex, her ex's brother, she just, wonders why. What the deal is there. He is really good friends with Demi, but it still seems strange. "Cool."

"Yeah?" Demi asks, like she's not really sure. Like she's not as set on this plan as she sounded.

"It's not a bad idea," Sel admits. Except, it's probably a terrible, bad sitcom idea, but, they're sixteen years old and their bosses won't let them date, so screw reality. "Just, don't forget who you're really with, okay Dem?"

"I could never."

"I know."

*

Demi gets back to L.A. before the Jonases and she and Selena spend a lot of time sneaking around, and also spreading rumors about Joe and Demi. Dem gets a few calls from gossip sites and annoyed agents, but she tells the truth and denies everything.

Joe gets himself photographed leaving Demi's house on one of the three days he's in town. Selena doesn't. It was nice hanging out, getting to curl up with Demi and catch up with Joe, get to know him a little bit better. Selena thought she knew Joe pretty well, but there are probably millions of fans who actually know him better. She doesn't know his favorite color, how he takes his coffee, but they might be getting there. He's a good guy, sweet and funny and willing to do this insane thing for them. Selena still doesn't really get why.

She wonders if it's residual guilt over the Nick thing, which, yeah, sucked, and it sucks to realize that he was always about Miley, even then, but they were 15, and it turns out he wasn't her big epic love story any more than she was his. So Joe being all apologetic doesn't really make any sense.

By the time Joe gets back to L.A. for good the rumors have blown over. Well, have "blown over" in the way where no one's actually talking about it, but everyone's still wondering. Selena's a little freaked out at just how good the three of them are at working the media and their bosses, but she guesses they have the experience Disney gave them, so what happens next is really on them.

Joe and Demi "date." They hold hands and kiss for the paparazzi and sneak back for Selena. She gets pretty good at finding back entrances, not standing out, and sharing. The three of them spend a lot of time talking and laughing and splitting two plates of food three ways.

They're having a sleepover one night, just the two of them (Demi twittered that it was a slumber party with Chloe, who thinks she's a beard for Joe) when Demi admits quietly that dating Joe isn't really as much like dating her brother as she thought it would be. Selena in turn admits that as much as she loves Demi and wants to be with her always, it's possible she might be bi.

Demi laces their fingers together and squeezes tight. Neither of them brings up Joe again, but he's on both of their minds.

*

The three of them sneak out for frozen yogurt a few nights later.

Joe picks up Selena, then Demi, and Selena hides in the back until after Demi and Joe have been in the yogurt shop for fifteen minutes and Selena has twittered about a song she's not actually listening to.

Then she walks in, buys herself an ice cream and sits adjacent to Joe and Demi, contributing to their conversation as best she can.

It takes a stupid amount of effort to include her this way, but they do it occasionally. So she doesn't feel left out. So they all remember why they're doing this.

And, god, Joe's cute with his hair all short and sticking up all over the place. And Demi looks so, so nice just a tiny bit dressed up. Selena's crazy about them.

Which. Is not how she's supposed to feel, even if Joe is making fun of the way she stirs her yogurt into soup and Demi's defending her at the same time she's criticizing Selena's gummi bear decision. Sel lobs a gummi bear at them and it gets stuck to his cheek. There is no way she could duplicate that shot again in a million years. The three of them all crack up and then Joe and Demi leave to go wait in the car for a bit before Sel comes back out.

Joe's tense on drive back to Demi's, tapping his fingers arrhythmically on the steering wheel. Dem puts a hand on his arm.

"Joe, just ask her. If she says no, it's no big deal."

Joe takes a deep breath.

"Ask me what?" Selena wants to know.

Joe catches her eyes in the rear view mirror. "Uh. Um. If you would want to date my brother. Fake date him, I mean."

"Nick?" Selena asks. She can't think, her brain is kind of whiting out, and not in a good way. "Um."

Demi turns around in her seat and takes Selena's face in her hands. "Breathe, baby."

Demi presses their foreheads together until Selena gets a grip and kisses her lightly.

"I don't think that's a very good idea, Joe," Selena lies. It's a horrible idea, actually. She. It took her a long time to get over Nick Jonas, she's still not entirely immune to the mention of his name. Pretending to date him while her girlfriend dates his brother, who she also has a crush on, well, the thought made her hyperventilate, so, no, definitely not.

Joe looks a little disappointed, but shrugs it off. "Just thought I'd ask."

The rest of the car ride is a little awkward, but the three of them cover it up as best they can. They're all better actors than the world knows.

Demi kisses them both when she gets out of the car. There's no paparazzi around, if there were everything would suddenly be so much worse, but Demi's Demi. These days, Selena's more jealous that Demi gets to kiss Joe than that Joe's kissing Demi. She trusts Demi, loves her, and besides, it's not like Selena doesn't spend a decent amount of her spare time kissing Demi herself.

She slides into the front seat next to Joe.

"Sorry about earlier," he apologizes as he reverses out of Demi's driveway. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay."

Joe's concentrating on the road, but he doesn't look convinced.

Selena turns sort of sideways in her seat and touches Joe's arm. "No, really. I don't know why I freaked out."

"I don't know why I asked. It's not like I actually want you dating my brother."

"You don't?" Selena's confused and maybe a little hopeful.

Joe exhales, a hard sigh. "No."

They don't say anything after that, but it's a mostly-comfortable silence. Joe reaches to flick on the radio at one point but then stops. It's too much of a crap shoot these days, what with almost everyone they know having an album out. And whatever Joe's got in his CD player, apparently he doesn't want to listen to it. Or doesn't want Selena listening to it. She wonders for a second if it's her.

Selena settles back into her seat and looks out the window. She's not exactly ignoring Joe, just, not really interacting with him either. He tugs on a lock of her hair as he turns into her neighborhood.

"Sel."

"Yeah." She turns back to him.

He parks at the curb a couple of houses from hers.

Joe leans towards her. This. This is really happening. And Selena should. Stop. Or. Take her seat belt off. Or. Or, she's leaning towards Joe. Joe Jonas the millionaire rock star. Who's her friend. Who's sweet and dorky and makes her laugh. She hopes her breath is okay.

Their lips meet.

Selena closes her eyes.

It's a good kiss, simple, sweet. Selena's heart is pounding as she pulls away.

"Okay," she says as she gets tangled in her seatbelt while she frantically tries to take it off.

"Okay?" Joe asks. Selena can't find the door handle. Oh, god, why can't she find the handle.

"Selena?" Joe asks again, "Okay?"

Selena looks at him. He's just Joe. He looks a little tense, a little scared, but he's also laughing at her a little. It's just Joe. She finally finds the door handle and it's easy to smile at him for real.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll see you, alright?"

And she's hopping out of his car, walking towards her house.

Joe doesn't drive away, not when she's at her door, not when she's inside. She thinks he sits in his car outside her house for a long time.

But Selena doesn't check. She's too busy calling Demi. It's not until she hears Demi's voice that Selena realized that she just cheated on her girlfriend. She just. It's Joe. And it was exciting. And, well.

"Selena?"

"I'm so sorry. It was an accident. I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to."

"What happened?" Demi asks.

Selena can't say it. She just, can't.

"IkissedJoe," she hisses like that will make it any easier to say or hear.

"Sel?"

"I kissed Joe. I'm really sorry, Demi. I don't know what happened. He just, he wanted to kiss me and I... I -"

"Hey," Demi says firmly. It sounds like she's trying not to smile. "It's okay. I kiss Joe all the time."

"Yeah. But. That's different."

"Maybe not as different as it should be. _I'm_ sorry, Sel."

Well. That changes things.

"He wants to kiss us, Dem."

"Yeah."

"And we want to kiss him."

"We do seem to want to do that."

"And we love each other."

"So, so much."

"Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the three of us -"

Demi cuts her off with a bark of laughter.

"That is the worst idea ever, love."

It is a pretty bad one, Selena has to agree. But. "No worse than asking Joe Jonas to be our beard."

Demi cracks up. She gets Selena started too, and they laugh for several minutes, clutching white-knuckled at their phones.

"I'll call Joe tomorrow," Demi says once she can breathe normally again. "We can ask him what he thinks."

"Okay."

*

They meet at Demi's because that's just where they meet, Demi taking the stairs up to her room two at a time, Joe and Selena trailing awkwardly behind her.

Demi's waiting, cool and confident and like nothing unusual is happening here. Selena loves her for it, loves who Demi is growing up to be. Joe is anxious, fingers tapping on the doorway as he waits.

Selena joins Demi on her bed, curling up like always. Or almost, they're both watching Joe like he might vanish if they blink. She wonders how they look to him, pale dark-eyed brunette girls gazing at him. She wonders if they scare him.

She smiles at him, a little, self-conscious smile.

"Come on in, Joe." Demi's confident voice is full of bravado. Selena laces their fingers together.

"Shut the door."

Joe's eyes go wide but he follows directions, stepping further into the room and pulling the door closed behind him. "Um, so."

"So about last night," Demi talks over him. Joe blushes and starts to speak but Demi just keeps talking. "Selena and I were thinking."

"Uh-oh?" Joe jokes. It's weak, but it's something. Selena's snicker turns into something real, until she's got the giggles and Demi's rubbing her back and she's chuckling hopelessly.

Joe smiles, a real one, and drops into Demi's desk chair. "Thanks for the pity laugh."

"Sorry, I just," Selena shrugs. "Anyway. We want to talk to you."

Joe's face closes off a little bit, like he looks in photos, like he's not letting you see everything. "I figured. I know I crossed a line last night -"

"You didn't," Demi says.

"Well, he kind of did," Selena corrects Demi before turning back to Joe, "but it's cool."

"It is?" Joe sounds disbelieving. Selena wonders what he's going to sound like when he hears their new idea.

"Yep. In fact, we have a proposition for you," Demi explains.

"You like us both, right, Joe? A lot." Selena asks. He nods, mute. "And we like each other a lot." Demi squeezes her hand. "And. We both like you."

"I..." Joe sounds vaguely like he's being strangled.

"What do you say, Joe?" Demi asks brightly. "Wanna date us?"

"For real," Selena adds, just because the clarity seems necessary.

"Yeah," Joe breathes, scooting the chair towards them. "I mean, we kind of have been dating, the three of us, for awhile anyway."

Demi stretches from around Selena to kiss him. It's a pretty chaste kiss, but it takes Selena's breath away. Makes her chest hurt. They're so gorgeous together.

Demi tugs Selena into a three-way kiss that gradually turns into just Selena and Joe, Demi watching heavily.

Selena's kissing Joe Jonas. She's kissing Nick's brother. She's kissed 2/3 of the Jonas Brothers. Selena huffs out a laugh.

Joe pulls away, faking offended. "What?"

"...Just," Selena's giggling again. Why can't she stop giggling? She's not this girl. "I was just thinking about how I've kissed half the boys in your family."

"Sel!" Demi smacks at her. Which, okay, it does sound pretty bad out loud. Joe laughs too, though.

"We aren't Pokemon, you can't catch us all, but I bet Kevin and Frankie would take one for the team if you really wanted them to."

And then the three of them are laughing in a big pile on Demi's bed and this seems like the best idea ever.


End file.
